Week 32 Update

Week 32 Belly Pic

How far along: 32 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 34 pounds . . . .Hooray! I haven't gained any since my last doctor's appointment!

Maternity clothes: Always!

Stretch marks: Yes, on the hips!

Sleep: Much better! Probably 4 or 5 hours at a time!

Best moment this week: My first shower . . . . it was so wonderful!

Movement: All the time. . . .She is rocking and rolling as I type!

Food cravings: Reese's Cup Sonic Blast, Strawberry Nutra-grain Bars

Gender: Girl . . . . Elizabeth Scout

Labor signs: A few little pains here and there

Belly button in or out: Still in . . . . I think it might be a flaty (flat-e) by next week!

What I miss: Nothing really . . . . I am feeling pretty good!

What I am looking forward to: My next shower this Saturday! Hooray!


Here is what Baby Scout is up to these days:

*Baby Scout is 224 days, and we are 79.9% through

*Baby Scout has about 56 days left in my belly and will be full term in 35 days

*Baby Scout is approximately 16.7 inches and about 4 pounds 0 oz

*Baby Scout is peaking with her activity this week because the space where she is living will become cramped because she is getting bigger.

*Baby Scout was head down last Wednesday when we had our last ultrasound. About 80% of babies have settled head-down position by now. I hope she stays that way!

*Baby Scout's weight will probably double in the next eight weeks.

*Baby Scout has developed short cycles of wakefulness and now sleeps about 90% of the time.

*Baby Scout's hair is getting longer, and she has developed longer fingernails and toenails that reach the edge of her fingers and toes.

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 97% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 15% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout is about the same size as a Honeydew.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

My First Shower

This past Saturday, five wonderful ladies from our church hosted my very first baby shower! One sweet lady kept telling that baby showers were better than Christmas and boy was she right! I had such a fun time.


Unfortunately, one of those sweet ladies was sick and couldn't come. I sure was sad she missed out on all the fun, but I know she wanted to get better quickly because she has a new grandbaby she wants to spoil.

The first item on the party agenda was enjoying some yummy treats. All the party guests enjoyed Petit Fours that were so yummy (I had the strawberry, and it was soooooo delicious!), fresh fruit, chicken salad, and scrumptious banana punch just to name a little. Here are a few of the guests finishing up the yummies!

I spent the next hour or so opening all the sweet gifts for Baby Scout. I was lucky enough to have a sweet helper, Jamie, to make the gift opening much easier. I appreciated all the help so much.


I felt so blessed by all the wonderful things I received. I can not say enough thanks for all the gracious friends who attended and bought such precious things for Baby Scout.


I did receive one gift with Scout's name on it. I just love these sweet diapers monogrammed with her name. I can't wait until she gets here, and I can put her sweet name with her sweet face. It still is a little hard for me to understand that this baby in my belly is Baby Scout.

Last, we played a really fun baby shower game. The hostesses had taken four little diapers and smushed candy bars inside them to look like poop (Ha!). Each guest had to look and smell the diapers to see if they could figure out what candy bar was inside. Here is my niece, Makayla, getting a good smell of one of the diapers. Isn't that hilarious! Luckily for my friend Jane, she was able to guess all four "poops" correctly. She won a sweet pink baby toy as her prize. She was very kind to donate that to Baby Scout!


I love this picture that Mrs. Linda took of my sister, my niece (isn't she a cutie), me and my mom before the shower started. We are all so excited about Baby Scout and look forward to when she will get to be in the picture too!

More 3-D Pictures

Two weeks ago when we went to the doctor, we were able to have our first 3-D ultrasound. Unfortunately, Baby Scout would not look at us, but we did get some sweet profile pictures. Luckily, the sweet ultrasound girl was so sweet to try again yesterday at our doctor's appointment. Again, Baby Scout would not totally cooperate, but she did show out a little giving us a little glimpse of a special talent she is practicing inside my belly.

I love this one of Baby Scout. It looks like she is smiling at us and just maybe there might be a dimple on that little cheek. Everyone who has seen this picture says she looks like me! I guess only time will tell.

This is the same picture edited in two different ways!

Now, for her talent! Look at how close she can get her foot to her mouth!

Oh, and yes! She is able to get it even closer! Right inside her mouth to be exact. If you look carefully, you can see the bottom of her foot and her toe is right in her mouth.

So, what do you think about this sweet girl? I think she is pretty special, and I can't wait until she gets here!

Week 31 Update

Week 31 Belly Pic

How far along: 31 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 34 pounds . . . .Hooray! I haven't gained any since my last doctor's appointment!

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: Yes, a few!

Sleep: Much better!

Best moment this week: Another 3-D Ultrasound today! I will put up pictures tomorrow!

Movement: All the time. . . .I wonder what she is doing in there!

Food cravings: Reese's Cup Sonic Blast

Gender: Girl . . . . Elizabeth Scout

Labor signs: A few little pains here and there

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Maybe a little Diet Dr. Pepper

What I am looking forward to: My first shower this Saturday! Hooray!


Here is what Baby Scout is up to these days:

*Baby Scout is 217 days, and we are 77.5% through

*Baby Scout has about 63 days left in my belly and will be full term in 42 days

*Baby Scout is approximately 16.2 inches and about 3 pound 9 oz

*Baby Scout is gaining weight steadily as increasing amounts of fat are deposited in the skin

*Baby Scout's hair is becoming more prominent , and the eyebrows and eyelashes have fully developed

*Baby Scout's fine hair coating is now starting to disappear

*Baby Scout's eyesight is improving, and the iris can dilate and constrict in response to light and dark

*Baby Scout is now very familiar with the sound of our voices which will help her feel much better and happy listening to our stories, rhymes, and music after birth

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 96% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 20% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout is about the same size as a head of lettuce

Don't forget to check back tomorrow night for some more 3-D ultrasound pictures. We were not able to get any of her whole face, but we did get some of her displaying a special, little talent. Have a happy Thursday!

Childbirth Class

What does a pregnant wife and her sweet husband do on the first beautiful Saturday in months? Well, of course, they attend their Childbirth Class! Now, this class is totally not for wimps. It began at 9:00 on Saturday morning and lasted until 4:45 Saturday afternoon. Since Daniel is totally involved with baseball right now, we chose this class option instead of the 6 week course on Tuesday nights. And as you might guess, all the pregnant mommies and coaches (three husbands, an aunt and a grandma) survived the wonderful details of the day.

Our Teacher, MaryAnn; Me; Daniel (in his coach pose)

Like I mentioned before, there were five pregnant ladies in the room, three dads-to-be, an aunt and a grandma. One mommy was due in April, two in May and two in June. Our fantastic teacher was Ms. MaryAnn (not sure of spelling), and she was so knowledgeable about the subjects of pregnancy and childbirth. We started off the morning just talking about expectations of the class and what exactly is going on inside the belly at this time. She had a little model of the baby, uterus, placenta, etc. Hmmmmm. . . . . so interesting. Next, we talked a little about taking care of ourselves and what is and is not normal during pregnancy. We finished up the morning by watching two births and going back through the videos and discussing what happened throughout each part. Both of the ladies made birth look pretty easy. I imagine this is not the case.

After a nice lunch break, we returned to talk to about and watch a video of a C-Section and childcare. The C-Section video was pretty scary; I sure hope that doesn't happen to us! We also spent a little time thinking about when you are actually going into labor and when you are not. At the end of day, we practiced breathing techniques to help with the pain of contractions and positions that might make contractions more comfortable. The position I liked best was the sitting on the exerise ball. I have to get one of those!

Overall, this was a pretty interesting day! Our teacher was super sweet and so kind to answer all our questions. I feel like we learned so much but still don't know if we are totally prepared for this big event. I hope during spring break, we can finish up all the details, possibly go over and tour the hospital, and get pre-registered for the big day!

Week 30 Update

Week 30 Belly Pic

How far along: 30 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 34 pounds . . . .

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: Yes, a few!

Sleep: Not Much!

Best moment this week: 3-D Ultrasound still tops the charts!

Movement: All the time. . . .I wonder what she is doing in there!

Food cravings: Ice Cream, Chocolate

Gender: Girl . . . . Elizabeth Scout

Labor signs: A few little pains here and there

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Sleep

What I am looking forward to: Our childbirth class this Saturday, Our next visit with Dr. Rivero on Wednesday, Another 3-D Ultrasound, and My first shower March 27th (Not May)!


Here is what Baby Scout is up to these days:

*Baby Scout is 210 days, and we are 75% through

*Baby Scout has about 70 days left in my belly and will be full term in 49 days

*Baby Scout is approximately 15.7 inches and about 3 pound 3 oz

*Baby Scout is gaining weight steadily

*Baby Scout's bones are hardening as more and more calcium is being stored

*Baby Scout's fine hair coating is now starting to disappear

*Baby Scout's brain is rapidly developing now and she will now respond to sounds

*Baby Scout is now very familiar with the sound of our voices which will help her feel much better and happy listening to our stories, rhymes, and music after birth

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 95% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 25% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout is about the same size as a head of lettuce

I can't believe I will only be doing 10 more weekly updates before the arrival of Baby Scout! It is a little scary and exciting at the same time. I can't wait to meet her, and I hope you can't either!

Week 29 Update

Week 29 Belly Picture

How far along: 29 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 34 Pounds, and we still have 10 weeks to go! Great!

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: Yes, a few from weight loss are starting to show now

Sleep: Tossing and Turning

Best moment this week: 3-D Ultrasound

Movement: Most of the time

Food cravings: Italian Food

Gender: Girl . . . . Elizabeth Scout

Labor signs: A few little pains here and there

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Nothing much!

What I am looking forward to: My first shower May 27th!

We saw Dr. Rivero today. He said everything looked great, and I measured 28 weeks. Baby Scout's heartbeat was 140. He told us that the preliminary results of the glucose test looked good and there was no reason to think that I would need the three hour test or any more bloodwork! Yeah! Now we start going to the doctor every two weeks and at 35 weeks, we will go every week. Oh my! How close we are getting to the arrival of Baby Scout.

Speaking of Baby Scout, we sort of got to meet her today. The sweet, little girl who does ultrasounds for Dr. Rivero lives in our sub-division. She just happened to be out walking last night when I was walking Chipper. We got to talking, and she said that if we came in at three today, she would work us in for our 3-D ultrasound. I was like WOOHOO! So, we went early and Baby Scout half-way cooperated, and we got to see some of her sweet face. Since we didn't get to see her full face, we get to try again at our next appointment! WOOHOO again! So . . . . . here is our sweet baby girl (the best I can get with my camera)!


I just love her little cheeks and nose, but I don't see any dimples! A few times while we were watching her, she opened and closed her mouth like she was swallowing. So sweet!

Here is what Baby Scout is up to these days:

*Baby Scout is 203 days, and we are 72.5% through

*Baby Scout has about 77 days left in my belly

*Baby Scout is approximately 15.2 inches and about 2 pound 14 oz

*Baby Scout has grown about another 1/4 pound in the last week

*Baby Scout now begins a rapid growth phase and will begin to put on nearly 1/2 each week

*Baby Scout's wrinkled skin is now smoothing out

*Baby Scout's organs are all fully formed and functioning well

*Baby Scout's bone marrow has taken over production of the red blood cells from the liver

*Baby Scout is urinating up to two cups of pee-pee a day!

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 90% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 30% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout is about the same size as a butternut squash

Tomorrow is picture day at school! Oh boy! I have to go now and try to pick out something that does not make me look like a complete cow! Hope you have a Happy Thursday!

The Great Date Experiment - Date Two

Recently, I blogged about something interesting a church in Arkansas was doing with their young, couples ministry called the The Great Date Experiment. After reading a little bit about it and watching the short video, I decided that maybe Daniel and I could give it a try as well. The first date was scheduled for Valentine's Day, and Daniel and I had a fun date that night. You can read about it here if you like: Great Date #1. And this past Friday, Daniel and I had our second date. Read on if you would like to hear about what we had to do.

The first part of our date consisted of deciding on a place to have an appetizer. Since I was sort of craving a little Italian food, we decided to go to a local restaurant located on our town's square. I must say it was a much nicer choice for dinner than we had on our first date (We went to McDonalds, Ha!). While we waited for our yummy ravioli, we had to discuss questions such as what was the best vacation we had ever been on and if we could live in a different city, where we would we live.

The next part of our date was supposed to be deciding on a place to eat an entree. We decided just to have our whole meal at the Italian restaurant because that was what I was craving. While heading to the new place, each couple was supposed to take their picture together with their camera phone (We did camera and camera phone). We, of course, did not do this in the restaurant, we waited until we got to the car. And now, we both have a fun picture of us together for our screen savers on our phone. Isn't that sweet?

During dinner, we had a few would you rather type questions and then we had to discuss which of the Five Languages of Love were most important to both of us. Apparently, the choices were from Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love Languages. Has anyone out there in blogland read that book?

After Dinner

After dinner, our task was to head to a store and choose a $2.00 gift for your spouse. You were only supposed to have ten minutes but due to the long lines at Wal-Mart (who knew everybody in America shopped on Friday night), we probably took closer to thirty minutes. Oh well, we tried. Here were the two gifts.

Daniel was so thoughtful with his choice, a sweet blanket for Baby Scout!

I got Daniel a calculator, because he had been complaining all night about have to teach surface area to sixth graders. I thought maybe a calculator might make it easier.

Next, it was time to head for dessert. We decided Sonic always makes a great choice. While we were enjoying our Jr. Candy Sundaes, we had a few fill-in-blank questions to discuss. For example, One of the nicest things you have ever done is ___________________. Try that one on your spouse, you might be surprised about what he or she says.

The last part of our date was to take place in the driveway at your house. Each couple had to turn on the music in their car, roll the windows down, and dance. So, we turned the Sirius to 90's on 9 and went to town. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Well, it was! I have video to prove it, but Baby Scout might be embarrassed if I share.

If you think this date sounds like great, it is not too late to get in on the fun. The third date is coming up soon. Just click on the link The Great Date Experiment to try it out!

Week 28 Update (A Day Late)

Week 28 Belly Pic

How far along: 28 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 29 Pounds! Yikes!

Maternity clothes: Yes

Stretch marks: No More Development

Sleep: Not too much

Best moment this week: Getting registered! We had fun picking out the cute, pink stuff!

Movement: All the time . . . She really gets going when I play music for her!

Food cravings: Nothing too much

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Nothing much!

What I am looking forward to: Seeing Dr. Rivero this Wednesday; I also get to do the glucose test (not looking forward to that)

Speaking of Baby Scout , what is she up to this week?

*Baby Scout is 197 days, and we are 70.4% through

*Baby Scout has about 83 days left in my belly

*Baby Scout is approximately 14.8 inches and about 2 pound 9 oz

*Baby Scout's movements are becoming strong and regular.

*Baby Scout's lungs are becoming better developed, and she is capable of breathing , although the lungs still have to develop more before they are ready for birth.

*Baby Scout's heart rate will will increase in response to sound

*Baby Scout's brain is becoming increasingly developed and complex

*Baby Scout might be able to dream beginning this trimester

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 80% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 35% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout is about the same size as a small cabbage

Hope you have a great Friday!